Light and The Body Clock: A new photoreceptor system within the eye

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• Professor Russell Foster
• Tuesday 31 January 2017, 20:00-21:30
• Department of Pharmacology Lecture Theatre, Tennis Court Road.

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Until the late 1990’s it seemed inconceivable to most vision researchers and ophthalmologists that there could be an unrecognised class of photoreceptor within the mammalian eye. After all, the eye was the best understood part of the central nervous system: one hundred and fifty years of research had explained how we see! However, by studying how circadian rhythms and sleep are regulated by the dawn/dusk cycle it was shown that there indeed exists a “3rd class” of photoreceptor based upon a small number of photosensitive retinal ganglion cells (pRGCs) that utilise the blue light sensitive photopigment melanopsin. Professor Russell Foster, Director of the Sleep and Circadian Neuroscience Institute, will explore the research that led to this discovery, the clinical implications of this work, and recent findings on how the pRGCs interact with the molecular systems that generate circadian rhythms and sleep.

About the speaker: Professor Russell Foster heads the Nuffield Laboratory of Ophthalmology and is the Director of the Sleep and Circadian Neuroscience Institute (SCNi). His research is focused upon how circadian rhythms and sleep are generated and regulated by light, and what happens to health when these systems are disrupted in eye and brain disease. Russell has received many prizes and honours, including election to the Fellowship of the Royal Society in 2008 and to the Academy of Medical Sciences in 2013, as well as being appointed as a Commander of the British Empire (CBE) for Service to Science. Russell is a member of Council of the Royal Society and Chairs the Royal Society Public Engagement Committee; he is also a Trustee of the Science Museum Group and chairs the advisory board of the Museum of Science and Industry (MSI) in Manchester. He has over 220 peer- reviewed publications and has co-written four popular science books.

Free for members, £3 for non-members. Membership can be purchased on the door for £12.

This talk is part of the SciSoc – Cambridge University Scientific Society series.

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